Samsung's Hummingbird 1
GHz ARM Cortex processor already fares quite well against the 1 GHz
Snapdragon in the GLBenchmark, and
has helped power impressive
sales of the Galaxy S line of Android smartphones across all
major U.S. wireless carriers. Now, Samsung is introducing a new 1 GHz
ARM Cortex A9 dual-core processor, dubbed "Orion."

The
A9's performance is based on its 45nm architecture, compared to the
A8's 65nm. Each core will sport a 32KB data cache and a 32KB
instruction cache, as well as a 1MB L2 cache "to optimize CPU
processing performance and provide fast context switching in a
multi-tasking environment." An enhanced GPU will allow five
times the graphics performance over the Hummingbird, which should
entice heavy gamers.

"Customers
have the choice to use different types of storage including NAND
flash, moviNAND, SSD or HDD providing both SATA, and eMMC interfaces.
Customers can also choose their appropriate memory options including
low power LPDDR2 or DDR3, which is commonly used for high
performance," the press release said.

The
Orion will also allow mobile devices to run two simultaneous
on-screen displays, while powering another external display like a
TV, thanks to an on-chip HDMI 1.3a interface.

The
Orion will be available to "select customers" in Q4 of
2010, and will begin mass production in the first half of 2011. You
can expect the first batch of Orion-powered smartphones to hit the
market some time around then.

"There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere." -- Isaac Asimov